Tabletop 2007 Student Volunteers

Tufts University, Medford MA

Investigators

Abstract

Tabletop 2007, the 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems, will be held in Newport, Rhode Island on October 10 -12. The workshop, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, has become a leading and uniquely focused forum for the presentation and discussion of research and practice relating to the design of tabletop systems, which is an emerging subfield of human computer interaction. The aim is to share research methods and results in order to advance tabletops as a platform for further development. Research papers typically cover all manner of topics related to tabletop computers: input and interaction methods, hardware design, usability testing, augmented reality and 3D interaction; multi-surface system design, gesture-based system design, multi-modal methods, tangible user interfaces, auditory user interfaces, collocated and distributed collaborative systems, development tools, interfaces and experience design, and ubiquitous computing and smart environments. These topics are examined in a variety of settings and user populations, including children and education, command and control (such as military and homeland security), design and entertainment, health care, home and family, the workplace, and special needs populations. The organizers expect that Tabletop 2007 will bring together approximately 100-150 professionals and researchers, product vendors, users, and other interested parties from around the world, to share information and advances in tabletop computing. Research reports published in the workshop proceedings are heavily refereed and widely cited. Inclusion of a large number of graduate students in the conference is a key to making it a success for years to come. The Student Volunteer Program, though new to Tabletop, is modeled after similar programs that have proven successful elsewhere in providing a means for promising graduate students to attend the conference at a significantly reduced cost in exchange for providing minimal services to the conference such as help with equipment setup and registration. The goals are to build a cohort group of new researchers who will then have a network of colleagues across the world, to guide the work of these new researchers by giving them access to senior experts in the research field who can coach them and give advice, to provide encouragement and support for the selection of interactive system design research topics, to make it easier for promising new entrants into the field to attend their research conference, to illustrate the interrelationship and diversity of Tabletop research, and to make the new entrants' experience at the Tabletop workshop an enjoyable and rewarding experience so as to encourage them to return in future years. Participants will have full access to all conference events. They will be selected on the basis of materials submitted by applicants in response to a call for participation, but the PI will make special efforts to recruit graduate students from historically under-represented groups. Broader Impacts: The Tabletop Student Volunteer Program will bring together the best of the next generation of researchers in the design of tabletop systems. It will provide an opportunity both for the students' research to be shaped and improved through intellectual exchange, as well as for the students to discuss and communicate the character of their work to a key group of their peer professionals. It will also allow them to create a social network both among themselves and with several senior researchers, which plays a major role in their enculturation into the profession. This is especially critical for PhD students in Tabletop research, which is highly interdisciplinary. Because the students and faculty are a diverse group across several dimensions (scientific discipline, academic background, and research specialization), the students' horizons are broadened at a critical stage in their professional development.